Scheduling the Annual Red and White Spring Game on Friday the 13th might not seem like a very good idea for the superstitious, but it turned about to be a very good day for head coach Tony Levine and the Houston Cougars football team.
With the Red Team jumping out to a 28-13 halftime lead, they held on in the second half; scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat the White Team 42-28 before 5137 fans at Robertson Stadium.
The game was played under modified rules with the first half proceeding as a normal football game with two 15 minute quarters with normal stoppage time.
The second half was played with two 15 minutes quarters; with no stoppage time and no kickoffs after a score.
Running back Kenneth Farrow scored first for the Red Team with a nice scamper of 12 yards at the 7:45 mark in the first quarter.
They came back three minutes later to make the score to 14-0 on a 42-yard pass from David Piland to Dewayne Peace.
The White Team got on the board when Bram Kohlhausen connected with Wayne Beadle on a 31-yard pass with 1:42 left in the first quarter.
They then took the score to 14-13 with 12:51 remaining in the half when Crawford Jones found Terrell Douglas open down the left side; hitting him with a 39-yard pass for the score. The play was set up as a field goal with Jones positioned to hold the ball
When Jones got the ball, he quickly stood up and connected with Douglas which left he other players thinking “What was that?†and the fans cheering for the surprise trick play.
Lloyd Allen’s kick was blocked, denying the tied-up score.
Jones then changed sides, now quarterbacking the Red Team and hit Farrow with a 36-yard pass.
With Matt Hogan making his third extra point of the night, the score went to 21-13.
Kohlhausen also switched sides and lead the Red Team to another touchdown when he passed to Peace with 4:15 left in the half.
The first half ended with the Red Team leading the White Team 28-13.
The third quarter started off with an 85-yard kickoff return by the White Team’s Marcus Williams. Wylie Hunter connected on the kick to cut the Red’s lead to eight.
Jones, who switched back to the White Team for the second half, connected for his third touchdown pass of the night, with Damian Payne for the 15-yard score.
He then hit Beadle with a short pass for the two-point conversion to tie the score.
The rest of the game was dominated by the Red as they scored twice more
The first score came at the 9:09 mark in the 4th quarter on a nine-yard pass from Piland to Daniel Spencer.
Farrow scampered four-yard with 5:56 left in the game for the final touchdown.Â
Piland was clearly the star of the game, solidifying his role as the heir-apparent to Case Keenum; completing 21-of-27 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns.
Kohlhausen also showed some skill and will definitely contend for the backup role behind Piland.
He completed 13-of-21 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown.Â
Dewayne Peace was the cream-of-the crop of the receivers; leading everyone with eight catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
Marcus Williams caught 10 passes for 115 yards while six other receivers contributed to both squads offensive totals.
Defensively, freshman red-shirt defensive back Lester Block had eight tackles; six of which were unassisted.
He certainly showed the coaches he wants a starting position when the Cougars hit the field at Robertson Stadium for their first game against Texas State on Sept. 1.
Linebackers Trevon Randle and William Moore along with defensive back Earl Foster all showed they have what it takes to contribute in 2012 with seven, six, and six tackles respectively.
This Cougars team will have a hard hill to climb if they hope to match the success of the 2011 season.
It does appear that the graduation of Keenum, Marcus McGraw, Patrick Edwards and the departure of former head coach Kevin Sumlin and all that implies has been forgotten or at least neatly tucked away in their memories.
The Cougars look as if they are making progress to be ready to play ball in 2012.
As in any program, things still need to be worked out, but it appears from the results and stats from this spring game, all cylinders are hitting in the engine that is the Houston Cougars football team and they will be ready for the race in 2012.
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